


Reality Bent or Group Projects, Am I Right?

by marastriker



Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Male Slash, Multi, Original Character(s), Self-Discovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:29:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27127918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marastriker/pseuds/marastriker
Summary: NOTE: Cats Human! AU. Names changed - see note at beginning of story for who is who and information on co-authors.Finn Whitaker was your not-so-average loner. With personal problems on top of his strange magical abilities, he had quite a bit of trouble making any close friends. When paired with the token cool kid, Tucker Summers on a group project for Philosophy Education, he is faced with more than just his own struggles. On a quest for some spicy information regarding a past student, Finn and Tucker's world is turned upside down.
Relationships: Mr. Mistoffelees/Rum Tum Tugger (Cats)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> PREFACE: Warnings will be issued in specific chapters later on, but they will be few and far in between. Be sure to check if there are notes at the top of each chapter so you know if you are comfortable reading it or not. If a chapter has no notes, then it's a normal, fair-game read! 
> 
> Guide to Name Changes
> 
> Finn Whitaker - Mistoffelees  
> Tucker Summers - Rum Tum Tugger  
> Vella Whitaker (Finn's sister) - Victoria  
> Mark Whitaker (Finn's father) - Munkustrap  
> Donna Whitaker (Finn's mother) - Demeter  
> Jen Summers (Tucker's mother) - Jennyanydots  
> Steve Summers (Tucker's father) - Skimbleshanks 
> 
> CO AUTHORS: Information here since they don't have A03 accounts I can link! 
> 
> Georgia Scealai (@georgiascealai on Instagram and https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaScealai is their Facebook page - please give them a like!)
> 
> GallicanCourier (@GallicanCourier on Twitter)

"Tucker?”

Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap. Toe tapping in the air, pen tapping rapidly against an empty notebook, chewing gum as he stared down at the blank page. God, this class was so boring. What, philosophy and education? What did that even mean?

“Tucker.” 

The tall boy pursed his lips and sunk deeper into his seat as bass flooded his ears. What, like high school had been pointless and they all needed to be re-re-reeducated on what morals were? Ugh. Hell, he hardly even needed this college degree. If he wanted to be an interpreter, he’d already proven his competence dozens of times over. He sure as hell didn’t need this stupid blow-off class. 

A sudden pain in his shin had air hissing through his teeth and he sat up, tugging the earbuds from his ears. The boy sitting next to him was giving him an expectant look. Amber eyes cast about, finding everyone in the classroom staring at him and, finally, he looked up at the professor, an eyebrow raised. “Huh?”

Dr. Ondkaos’s face fell into disapproval, her brow lowering, lips pursing.  
Arms were crossed over her chest and it seemed she’d been tapping her toe as well. Tucker snorted internally at the idea that she’d been listening to the same music as him. “I take it you’ve not heard a word I’ve said?” the woman spoke.

He kind of felt bad. She looked like a younger professor. He looked around again, searching for anything: a memory, a mouthed word, something written in his notebook. “Uuuh…”  
She gave him a tight smile and, turning back to her lecture, asked him to refrain from using his phone in class. Warmth touching his cheeks, he settled back down in his chair and the raw, unfiltered drawl of class drifted in one ear and out the other. Classes never worked well for him; he only came for the mandatory attendance. He’d do fine in the class. He’d read what she wanted, being a visual learner, and he’d skate by with a B or a C, enough to get him through and on to the shit he actually cared about. Unconsciously, his pen began tapping again and it was only when his classmate next to him glanced over that he realized he was doing it and stopped.  
He lasted ten minutes before heaving a sigh and leaning forward to doodle.

This was so boring. The words “group project” drifted through his mind and he caught right before it left his other ear. His pen stilled and he looked up, his head unmoving. A group project that would be worth ten percent of their grade and would be about a given thing that mattered to them and affected society in one way or another. That sounded… stupid. It would be however they wanted to do it so long as both people in the group participated and the presentation was at least five minutes long. It wouldn’t be too bad. He’d find a friend somewhere around the room and get with them- and as if she’d read his mind, Dr. Ondkao’s announced that the groups would be predetermined. Everyone in the class groaned and the boy hid his in with theirs.  
Steadily, names were announced, and people were paired off, heading out into the hallway to start working on their project or occupying classroom tables as they emptied.

“Finn and Tucker,” she called and shot a glance toward the leather-clad student to be sure he was listening. Pushing down a groan, Tucker stood and turned, scouring the room for who else was moving. As the smaller, quiet boy rose, he pressed his lips together. Great. So not even with one of his friends, just the boy he saw hanging around pretty girl Vella on campus. This was going to go swell. He’d have to pull teeth just to get anything from this kid.

The rest of the names were called out and the professor gave them the rest of the period to come up with a topic. Tucker took it as the time to face Finn and hold out a hand. “Hey. Tucker.” Whether or not the boy several hands shorter than him answered or not, he started the next sentence with an “uhhh…” and a shrug. “What do you want to do the presentation about? I’m kind of up for anything.”

Dr. Ondkaos’s words took a minute to really sink into Finn's mind. Working with that slack-off jock? He might as well do this whole project by himself. He thought about complaining to the Professor after class, as the only other person he voiced his concerns about the no-good leather-wearing prick was his sister. Vella always brushed him off, saying that you can't really judge a person until you get to know them. What exactly was there to know about Tucker though? Finn already knew the stuff that mattered; he's lazy, careless, and has the attention span of a goldfish. 

Ideal project partner. Super. 

He sighed to himself before the Professor announced that the rest of the class period would be devoted to coming up with a topic for the project. Finn took a look at his (rather extensive) notes on the project. Open-ended topic, so long as their research and product somehow contributed to society. A few ideas were floating around in his head already, as he then glanced over to Tucker's notebook, which was only covered in doodles and song lyrics. 

Awesome. 

What have you ever contributed to society? were the words he wanted to say after Tucker formally introduced himself and basically gave the burden of coming up with a topic on Finn's shoulders. He thought for a second, lips tightly pressed together, attempting to come up with a nicer response.

"Some sort of community outreach I assume is what the Professor is going for?" he started, pretending to not know exactly what he wanted to do. "Since education isn't quite universal for everyone, maybe we could explore how a certain group of people might learn differently?"  
He wasn't expecting much from Tucker, but Finn didn't want to just blow him off and leave class. Well. He did. But he knew it wasn't right. Maybe he could have some semblance of a conversation with this dude.


	2. Chapter 2

Tucker could feel disapproval rolling off this guy in waves, like he thought he was better than the popular guy or something. Alright, whatever. He could feel that way if he wanted. And of course, the guy’s answer wasn’t actually an answer, just a suggestion. A half step in the right direction rather than a full step, Tucker guessed, and he started his pen tapping again, slouching down in his seat. The obvious answer was talking about Deaf schools, and that way Tucker would be able to show off his sign language. But… everything he did was Deaf culture. He lived it every day practically. Plus, others would call him a weirdo for it. So, he ignored that obvious answer and tapped his heels against the thin college carpet. He pulled his eyes away from the old analogue clock on the wall as soon as he realized he was looking at it. 

The interpreting major sat up and took a deep breath in, sighing and raising his eyebrows as his attention fell on his project partner’s notebook. Jesus Christ, how much had he written for this? Didn’t he have a memory or anything? “Uh, okay, so I know there are visual learners or audio learners, like. Maybe we could do something with that?” They could look up different research, he guessed, kind of take a peek at how teachers taught different classes of people. He didn’t know. He had an idea but didn’t want to share it. Surely Finn had something. Tucker just wanted to go home.

Talking to Tucker made Finn feel like he was losing braincells. Yeah, no shit, there are visual and audio learners. That's not quite what he was going for. 

"You're on the right track, um." He paused. It was always difficult for him to properly talk to people he didn't really know. He kept his eyes fixed on the desk the whole time; eye contact just made him even more nervous. That was the real downside of group projects. Finn never seemed to really connect with anyone on a meaningful level. Hell, for a lot of his childhood, he never really talked. In middle school he learned a few ASL signs after seeing an advertisement for a club, but never really properly got into it. Plus, the excessive movement wasn't great if he were to accidently set something on fire. No one else at school knew that Finn had these weird...powers. He never quite understood them himself, with his parents always encouraging him to keep them to himself. "Yes, they're very special, so you have to keep them for yourself. It's like a fun secret!" He knew they just didn't want him drawing attention to himself and possibly making his family look bad. Magic was fairly rare and there were definitely people who didn't approve of it. Closed-minded people, he always thought. What was so wrong with his abilities, anyway? 

He continued on, realizing he was still attempting to talk to someone. "Perhaps the way people with disabilities learn?" Maybe Tucker would be interested in this since he seemed to have severe ADD. "People with attention problems, autistic students, deaf or blind people, maybe..." He just rambled on with the first ideas that came to his head as the clock hit 12:15pm.

An eyebrow rose at his partner’s tone. Did Finn think he was the teacher all of a sudden or something? “On the right track,” pff! Tucker rubbed the pad of his thumb along his 5 o’clock shadow as he watched Finn, distracting himself from saying anything antagonistic. The taller boy waited patiently. Finn seemed to have some kind of problem talking or making any eye contact. It felt like a weird problem to have after Tucker’s entire life being stared at and dragged into conversations – or at least that’s how it seemed to the hearing world. He didn’t know if maybe the boy was autistic and tried to keep his judgmental opinions to himself, instead opting to sit and tap his pen until his partner came out with something more explanatory. 

Tucker’s lip twitched at “deaf” being added to that list and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from correcting Finn: being deaf wasn’t a disability. Plus, it looked like what the boy had in mind had been exactly what he had been hoping to avoid. Maybe he might still be able to avoid it considering Finn was trying to include disabilities, and deafness wasn’t one. The blonde twirled his pen in his hand now, his fingers moving quickly enough to forego visibility. “Okay.” It didn’t help that the lilt in the raven-haired kid’s voice made it feel like he’d suggested “people with attention” problems during the same class that Tucker had been caught spacing out. What, was this kid trying to say something? 

He shrugged, looking back to the whiteboard and tapping the cap of his pen against his empty note page.

“Look, I don’t really care. We can do whatever you want.” He looked back over, his knee bouncing up and down. He was ready for this class to be over already, and from the hands of the clock, it wouldn’t be too much longer. “Just let me know what parts you want to do, and I’ll get on the rest. Uh, here, what’s your number?” He leaned forward, lanky musculature showing itself through his thin orange shirt as he reached for the phone in his back pocket. “Finn, right?” He sat back with a breath through his nose and with few movements of his fingers, his phone was unlocked and ready for a number to be given.

Alright. Did Finn do something wrong? Or was Tucker honestly just that insufferable to deal with?

Finn was just sitting there, a half-shocked look on his face, like he wasn’t expecting to be cut off and pushed aside. Well. Maybe he was. He was used to that anyway. He was mostly just trying to be helpful and list some possible different communities that they could focus on, but it seemed like Tucker was having none of it and just wanted to go home. Fair enough. 

Finn scribbled down his number, picked up his backpack and mumbled a half-assed “talk later” before leaving the classroom. 

He walked quickly down the hallway to the nearest exit, stifling the urge to scream into the void. Or cry. Whichever came first. Making friends was never Finn’s strong suit, but usually people weren’t so brazen about getting him to shut up and leave. 

He fumbled with his zip-up hoodie as he made his way to the dining hall. Vella said she would meet him here after class and have lunch. 

His sister, Vella Whitaker, was the quintessential perfect human being. She was beautiful, popular, kind, and always tried to do good, no matter what. She didn’t have the constitution to hurt a fly, let alone another person. She was a best friend and confidant to Finn, and he couldn’t have appreciated her more. 

But he was secretly jealous of all the support, attention, and friends she had. Her whole life. He wanted that. 

Finn spotted her waiting by the salad bar, waving him over to a table.


	3. Chapter 3

Tucker watched as the other boy paused, then retrieved a pen to begin writing presumably his number on a corner of his notebook paper. He continued to watch as the other boy meticulously tore the slip off and handed it to Tucker even as Tucker’s fingers were poised over his phone to type it in. Tucker took the paper and, confirming it was indeed Finn’s phone number, lifted it and pressed his lips together in thanks. And he continued to watch as the other boy quickly snatched his notebook and bag and stalked away. Damn. Tucker had been eager to go, too, but the guy acted as if he’d just slapped him across the face. Okay, whatever. As long as he got a passing grade on this project, he didn’t care.

Much more slowly, he stood and slung his bag over his shoulder, tucking his own notebook in. As Dr. Ondkaos’s head lifted, Tucker raised a hand and smiled before leaving. He could vaguely see Finn’s retreating figure as he trotted up the small stairs to the main floor. The taller boy shook his head with a sigh. Finn scurried off across the parking lot, head down, and Tucker turned to make his way to the commuter parking lot. He lived fairly close and his family liked having him around. That wasn’t to say he didn’t also enjoy being around his family, but there was a reason he tended to spend more of his day at the college than at home, strictly. 

The drive home was easy, bass blaring through his speakers. Dinner was simple, cereal and some of his mom’s rice pudding.

He sat at his desk now, precariously tilting his chair back as he thought. He remembered PHI class and groaned, letting the front half of his chair return to the ground with a thud and he reached back to fish out the paper and his phone. His hand turned the device in his hands with a flourish. He couldn’t help his knee bouncing with excess energy as he typed the number into his phone. Why couldn’t the guy have just told him? It would have been so much easier for both parties than this. When he was sure he’d got it right, he saved contact and opened a message. “It’s Tucker.” After exactly sixty seconds of research online, he added two links to starting sources online and added them to the original text with a “This kind of stuff, yeah?” and sent it off. He tosses his phone on his desk then and promptly went to Netflix.

Finn sat opposite Vella and immediately slouched over on the table, groaning. 

“So, I’m taking it Philosophy of Education didn’t go so well today?” Vella asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be. 

“I got paired with Tucker for our big group project.” He said, looking up at her. “That should tell you enough.”

“Who, Tucker Summers?” Vella questioned, surprised that Finn seemed so disdainful. “He’s a sharp guy, I have no idea what you’re complaining about.” She took a dainty bite of her salad, rolling her eyes. “You’ll be fine, trust me.” 

Finn looked at Vella like she had two heads. “Tall guy? Sandy blond hair? Never pays attention in class?” He was having heaps of trouble believing Tucker could be anything related to intelligent.  
“You don’t have to get an A in every class to be smart, Finn.” Vella had no compunctions about calling out Finn when he was being a bit of a haughty asshole. “You really shouldn’t make those kinds of snap judgements about people; you don’t even know him.” She poured more dressing over her salad, giving up on the notion that she was going to eat healthy today. “Plus, I’ve seen him interpret before.”

“Interpret?”

“Yeah, his family is deaf and he’s fluent in ASL.” 

Oh. 

So that might have been the reason he got a bit touchy in class. Because Finn mentioned deaf people as having disabilities. He didn’t meant to insult his family, he just…  
Vella saw the wheels in Finn’s head turn. 

“You accidently said something about deaf people, didn’t you?”

God, she was good at that. They knew each other so well that Vella could basically predict exactly what he’d done. It wasn’t magic or anything, she just knew how he operated. 

“I may have mentioned them as being disabled.”

Vella chuckled, “Yeah I figured.” 

“Do you think he may have taken that the wrong way?” Finn questioned, grimacing a bit.

“It’s possible. You better make yourself clearer when you’re talking.”

“You know it’s not that easy…” Finn trailed off, fidgeting with his hoodie again. 

“But not impossible” Vella countered with a wink. 

Finn hated when she was right. He sighed. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll text him tonight.” Finn got up to get himself some food before they left for home. 

Their parents were out on their weekly date night, so Vella invited her friends over for a movie night. They set up camp in the living room, having a throwback night with 17 Again, Mean Girls, and Legally Blonde. Finn knew that Vella always thought she was the real life version of Elle Woods, and honestly, it was true. 

Finn opted to nest in his room, getting some homework done and listening to his favorite Spotify playlist. His phone went off, the notification telling him exactly who it was. “It’s Tucker.”  
Apologizing to Tucker about his social mishap in class had completely been forgotten after a few hours of Calc and Literature homework. “Shit..” Finn thought to himself. “I’m the worst.”  
Another few buzzes, Tucker had sent over some research links. 

Finn knew ever since Vella confronted him earlier that he was being a judgmental asshole. Realizing this only made him feel worse and worse about himself. 

He texted Tucker back after perusing the links.

This looks great, honestly. Sorry about implying that deaf people are disabled as well. I didn’t mean to offend you or your family.

Did that sound good?

He hesitantly hovered over the send button.

He sucked it up and clicked it, promptly throwing his phone across the room. 

Nonetheless, that was an accomplishment.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a while before Tucker thought to look at his phone again. Unlike most kids, he didn’t have to put it on silent so that it didn’t annoy his parents, but his noise cancelling headphones – for when his parents inevitably made noises they didn’t know about – made it easy to miss any notifications. He finally pulled it up to play on it when his binging grew tiring and he realized it was late. Like, 10:30pm late and there were responses from hours ago. It wasn’t a big deal, but he leaned forward and unlocked his phone to reply. The full message had the blonde’s fingers pausing over the keyboard and he frowned. How the hell had Finn found out that his family was Deaf? And it wasn’t that big of a deal. Honestly, Tucker was more upset about the way the guy acted like an overall dickhead rather than that he spouted some common misconceptions. He didn’t like that people were apparently talking about him behind his back. He wasn’t going to make a big deal about it, and he planted his chin in his hand, elbow on the wood of his desk as he thumbed out his reply. 

“Whatever, nbd. When/where you want to meet up to hash the project out? I’m free tomorrow around 1.” He let the phone slide from his hands again and he kept it in better view this time, rubbing the back of his hand against his scruff. 

Who would have told Finn?

He didn’t seem the type to be friends with people Tucker knew. Just because he was in the interpreter department didn’t mean that all his friends knew his family was Deaf. Pale skin and a gorgeous pink-lipped smile entered his mind’s eye and he groaned, putting a palm to his forehead. Vella. Of course. It did mean that Finn was talking about him with her. Probably nothing good and he rolled his eyes, mousing over to the links he’d found earlier. Might as well get started on a bit more research since he was taking a break from Netflix. He opened a Word document to start compiling good sources and ideas. Half an hour in and he stopped himself, leaning back in his chair. He shouldn’t do a whole lot of this. He wasn’t sure what they were doing, plus his games were calling his name now. He obliged, keeping an eye on his phone.

Finn had attempted to distract himself, watching a few episodes of Good Omens, studying for a test he had coming up over differential equations, playing a couple rounds of Smash…but he still couldn’t stop thinking about whether he worded that text correctly. Should he have mentioned that he knew Tucker’s family was deaf? Shit. Shit Shit shit, he shouldn’t have. Tucker didn’t know that he knew. He’ll probably get all suspicious now. 

Finn’s phone pinged again, and he almost beat himself up over the response. 

Whatever, nbd. When/where you want to meet up to hash the project out? I’m free tomorrow around 1.

Whatever. That’s what you say when you want to avoid talking about something. Finn audibly whined and fell onto his bed. Vella said to be clearer when he was talking. 

Yeah, I’m free then too. Let’s meet in the library. 

That sounded clear. Meeting tomorrow at 1 in the library to hash out details of the project. No way this could get misconstrued or misinterpreted. 

He hit send.  
Finn heard his sister saying goodbye to her friends downstairs. He peeked his head out of his bedroom door.

Vella was shutting the front door when she turned around to clean up the popcorn and blankets that had been set out. 

“Hey.” Finn said, emerging out of his bedroom. He needed to talk to her. Again. About more mistakes. 

“Hey there! Sorry if we were a little loud.”

“No, that’s fine. I’m pretty good at tuning out that kinda stuff.”

She giggled, knowing her brother all too well. “Yeah, well still, I just wanna make sure I didn’t bother you.”

Vella noticed that Finn looked a little nervous. 

“You okay?”

“I think Tucker took my apology the wrong way too.”

“Oh, shit. You mentioned that you knew his family was deaf? That’s my fault….” Vella frowned, forgetting that she wasn’t exactly supposed to know herself. 

“No, it’s my fault, cause I can never just. Talk to people. Like a normal person.” Finn looked like he wanted to crawl in bed and never reemerge. “It’s why I hate group projects.”

Vella knew her brother had some trouble communicating, mostly because he’s had to deal with so much from a very young age. In fact, she knew that he secretly used his magic to make himself appear more masculine since, even though he knew he was male, he wasn’t exactly…born that way. No one in the family had a problem with it, which is why it always concerned her that he strained himself trying to keep up a certain appearance even in the privacy of his own home. She knew that constantly using his powers all day was draining enough on top of having to socialize with people. That’s why she always made it clear that she was always there for him, no matter what. 

“Hey, it’s okay. Try to talk it out face to face when you see him next. He’s not unreasonable or anything, I just think you two got off on the wrong foot.” 

“Yeah.” Finn started helping to fold up the blankets and stack them on the couch. 

“I know you can manage it if you try hard enough. You talk to me just fine.” Vella pointed out, trying her best to cheer him up. 

“It’s different when you know someone since. Basically forever.” 

“I still believe in you.”

Somehow, that made Finn feel a thousand times better. Just one person that believes in you can really help make a difference sometimes.

“Thanks. I mean it.” 

The front door burst open, their parents, Mark and Donna Whitaker, the usually sophisticated and classy adults were laughing, clearly a bit wine drunk from their escapade earlier that night. And honestly? No one could blame them. Mark was overworked and needed a break. Donna had an anxiety disorder and needed to let loose once in a while. Finn and Vella were definitely old enough to take care of themselves while their parents tried to rekindle that spark they had when they first started dating. 

It also meant that there was less for Finn to deal with from them. For too long they were…a bit overprotective and worrisome due to Finn’s magical abilities. They always thought it was best to keep it on the down low, which only resulted in Finn not knowing how to control it. 

Oh well.


	5. Chapter 5

Tucker had absolutely no idea the struggle that Finn was going through on the other end of the phone. The moment his screen lit up with a new text message, the taller boy had it in his hands, looking down at the response blankly. Library 1pm tomorrow? Sounded good. He sent back a thumbs up emoji and laid it back on the desk. He didn’t really care if it was in view now, their main communication was done. He saved and closed his work so far in a google drive and went back to messing around. A few hours later and a loud knock on his door had him jumping out of his seat. He didn’t bother yelling and went over to open it to his smiling mother who mouthed “hi.” He offered her a smile and brushed his middle finger up his upper chest, letting his palm end up facing upward. “What’s up?” 

The way his mom signed always calmed him.

It was steady and clear, and it was easy to hear what her voice would sound like if she were hearing. As it was, her voice was nice, peeking out occasionally as she “spoke” to him. Overall, her gestures were deliberately unintrusive and she smiled easily. ‘I know you don’t need a mom and you don’t need lectures, you’re old enough, and that’s fine. I understand.’ He smiled at her. She was a nice, nosy woman. She just wanted what was best for him and he was still trying to extrapolate that past the walls of this house. ‘I just want to make sure you get a good night’s sleep, it’s pretty late.’ Tucker leaned around to glance at the time on his computer and he bared his teeth in surprise, lifting his hand shaped like claws and passing it by his right cheek twice. “Wow, sorry, mom.” He passed a flat hand past his head, palm facing left, and put both his palms together to rest against his right cheek. “I’ll sleep soon.” She smiled at him and nodded, signing a little ‘good night’ in front of her chin before heading off to her room.

And he did head to bed soon, having to remake it before he tumbled inside and messed it all up again.

Classes passed the next day fairly quickly and he found himself done without hardly realizing. He was headed to his car on auto-pilot before he remembered the agreement from last night and he groaned. A quick u-turn had him stumbling for a few steps before he strode quickly back up the path toward the campus library. God dammit, stupid group projects. At least he’d saved his shit to a google drive rather than his computer, then maybe Holier-Than-Thou would think he wasn’t a layabout, not that it mattered. He checked his phone as the library came into view – 1:05pm, fuck – and he jogged across the asphalt, looking both ways as he crossed. They were there for a group project, so he’d probably be on the top floor, Tucker thought to himself, going through his mind to find the quickest route to his partner. 

Seeing that mop of black hair had him huffing out a breath of air in relief and he walked over, raising a hand in greeting.

When he saw Finn looking, he said a quick “hey” and he slid into the seat across from him. They’d probably move over to the computers later. “So, look,” he started off, putting his hands off in a delaying gesture. “I know we’re probably not going to get along, but if we can just get this project done for the sake of the class, that would be great. I did a bit of stuff last night, but I figured you could let me know exactly what you had in mind before getting into it. It’s on my drive, we’ll probably be able to find shit in this library too, who knows.” He gestured around them as he spoke, talking about the resources they had and trying to be as unassuming as possible. He was a loud and boisterous person, it’s just who he was. If this project with were with a buddy of his, he’d be joking and laughing and honestly they probably wouldn’t get anything done for like two hours. Since he wasn’t, count it as a small blessing because hopefully they’d at least get their shit done fast. It seemed pretty obvious to him that Finn wanted nothing to do with him, so, they could get on with it. Nothing to do with the fact that Tucker was uncomfortable with someone knowing his family was Deaf. Nothing to do with it at all.

Finn only had the one class today, Calculus II, at 11am. He couldn’t stop tapping his fingers on the desk, dreading having to meet Tucker at the library. He hardly caught the lecture, his mind racked with what he was going to say, how he was going to make things right. He tried coming up with a way to make it clear that they had gotten off on the wrong foot. Redoing his apology. 

His hand must have been fidgeting a little too much, as he caught a sign of sparks flying off his fingers, almost singing the end of his notebook. The only thing that actually caught the attention of the other students was Finn’s awkward attempt at covering it up, which resulted in his water bottle spilling over his desk. 

Class finished pretty early, and he decided to grab some lunch before heading over to the library. The school had renovated fairly recently, so he hoped Tucker knew that he meant the new library across from the dining hall, and not the old library on the southern edge of campus. He probably did. It was fine.

He managed to make it to the library a bit early, at 12:50pm. He set up camp on the top floor where all the computers and study spaces were located. He made himself at home at a large desk, pulling out a notebook, where he figured they’d brainstorm some ideas based off the research that had already been done. They had plenty of time to finish everything, so Finn wasn’t in any sort of hurry. 

Finn hadn’t really been paying attention to the time. He saw Tucker’s mess of sandy blond hair heading up the stairs and mentally prepared himself for the conversation that was about to ensue. 

Though he wasn’t really able to get a word in when Tucker started talking. “I know we’re probably not going to get along, but if we can just get this project done for the sake of the class, that would be great.”

Finn didn’t really hear the rest; his stomach was too busy sinking. He needed to say something even if Tucker didn’t want much to do with him. 

“Um, actually…” He started, trying to find the right words to formulate what he wanted to say. 

“Vella did tell me what she did, because…” He felt awful admitting to the world that he had been a bit of a jerk to Tucker before they even knew each other personally. “Because I was being judgmental. She said that…that I was being uppity and shouldn’t make snap judgements about people before actually knowing them. That’s kind of what I meant to get across with my apology text last night, but it didn’t really seem to work out that well.”


	6. Chapter 6

Tucker paused his minor speech as the quiet boy’s lips parted to interrupt. Let it not be said that Tucker didn’t let others speak and he leaned back in his chair to listen. He looked out of the corner of his eyes. The confirmation was a bit surprising. He’d known they’d been talking about him – otherwise how would Finn have found out – but he hadn’t expected it to be addressed. He guessed he should be grateful…? He wasn’t, though, and just shifted in his seat. Tucker’s brows furrowed slightly, his head tilting with an awkward smile. Instinctively, his hands rose, gesturing between them in that vague, expressive way hearing people did. “I said ‘no big deal,’ what’s wrong with that? I know Vella, I’ll talk to her, whatever, you and I just have this project, so,” and he lifted a log to cross it over the other. 

Really, he wanted to not be talking about this. Was Finn one of those quiet emo kids that had to latch onto every piece of drama and hash about it at length? Vella seemed so cool, so what’d happened with this kid? This guy realized they didn’t have to be friends, yeah? It wasn’t that Tucker necessarily cared, he just knew that if Finn hadn’t learned his family was Deaf, then he’d still be feeling the same way, and Tucker definitely didn’t want any of Finn’s pity. He didn’t want it, he didn’t need it, and if Finn didn’t like his attitude, that was cool, he didn’t like Finn’s, either. But he wasn’t about to go up to the professor and ask for a different project partner, so they just had to get through this. It was just a 5 minute presentation; how hard could it be?

“Okay.”

Finn was resigned to just drop it and do the project, but a part of him was slightly miffed that Tucker barely even acknowledged his apology. What did he have to do, beg? He wasn’t going to stoop that low, come on. 

He laid out the printed out webpages that Tucker had sent him the previous night. 

“So, if we can manage to find a couple of books for primary sources, and a couple other websites we can use as secondary sources then we should be able to throw together a paper and presentation fairly quickly.” Finn forgot about having plenty of time to research and write and design a whole presentation. He wanted to be done as soon as possible after this whole mishap. Tucker didn’t want to amicable, fine. Finn didn’t want to put up with him either. He can at least say that he tried to mend things, but he supposed some things weren’t meant to work out. 

The “okay” Finn pushed out had Tucker relaxing. Finally. He didn’t understand why the guy had been trying to make such a big deal about something he honestly hadn’t cared about. It bothered him more that Finn seemed to be trying so hard. Tucker wasn’t that difficult a guy to get along with. As his partner laid out printed pages, an eyebrow rose. Wow. He’d felt good just doing the research he had last night, and Finn already had shit printed out. A closer look revealed them to be the pages he’d found, and he felt more assured. If Finns’ notebook yesterday had been any indication, the guy just liked to be organized. Tucker could accept that. 

Amber eyes went back to Finn as he started talking, listing the more detailed requirements of their project. The blonde nodded, looking back at the papers and tapping his finger against the table once, twice. “Okay, yeah, sounds good. I can find website sources, no problem. Those took like thirty seconds. The books might be a little bit of a problem. Funnily enough, information like what we’re trying to find might not be so readily available here. Deaf and blind sources aren’t often written about outside of online nowadays.” He lifted a shoulder in a half shrug and leaned back again. They could use his firsthand account for Deaf stuff, but he got the feeling the teacher would consider that cheating the intent of the assignment: to teach students how to research and cite. 

Tucker had an idea then, and he nibbled his lower lip.

He had an idea that might be stupid. It was way too in depth than they needed it to be, but wouldn’t that make it kind of cool if they succeeded? Everyone on campus lowkey knew about it, the violent student years in the university’s past that had been diagnosed with some kind of disorder after he’d gone on a small rampage. No one had been killed, he didn’t think, but it was bad publicity for the school, so they’d tried to shut down any information on it that they could. He’d have to find out where they kept the files on that kid’s information, if they even still had them anymore. If they got detailed enough records, they could potentially use this past kid as an example to say how the kid had probably needed some special kind of education so that he could listen and be understood. It was just an idea, and a far out one. Falteringly, Tucker shared the basic details of the concept with Finn. “Think that would be cool?”

Finn’s eyes widened a bit as Tucker relayed his idea to him.. What Tucker was considering was straight up insane. But honestly? So fucking cool if they could find that information. What a perfect primary resource. Sure, it technically would be a violation of that student’s privacy but…how amazing would it be to get a perfect grade on this project? Finn’s selfish tendencies won out on this moral dispute. Their presentation could be used as an example for future classes, even. He really wanted to snatch every chance at validation and praise that he possibly could. He didn’t get it from peers, or even his parents, so he resolved himself to being an overachiever at school instead. 

“Where would we even look for that student’s records though?” He felt like Tucker knew something he didn’t. “Would we have to ask permission from administration or…? His eyes twitched a little trying to work out the details of how this could be feasible.


	7. Chapter 7

Tucker hid his smirk. Of course. The only thing a quiet nerd would do something against the rules for: a good grade. He tapped his toe in the air as he rummaged through his head. That student went here about… seventy five years ago, right? Definitely before the school files were digitized, and probably long enough ago that they hadn’t even bothered. Kid was probably dead by now, who cared. And with the urban legend level of it, it was probable they may have stored it somewhere other than the usual student records place – or they were just lazy and took all the files past a certain age and stored them somewhere else. It certainly wasn’t here. This library had been built 15 years ago. But there was an older building. He guessed it made sense. 

All of this ran through Tucker’s head as he sat there, rubbing his thumb along his scruff and tapping his foot as it rested on his opposing knee. He was suddenly grateful for the input of that strange lady outside the English building. They’d struck up a conversation while the blonde had waited for a few friends to get out of class and she’d offered the idea of using and old student as a case study - and that they kept especially ancient student profiles in the old library. It was good intel, and he didn’t wonder too much about how she’d gotten it. Tucker nodded to himself quietly, then looked up at Finn and shook his head. “No, we wouldn’t.” He looked around at everyone else in their floor that could potentially overhear and leaned forward, lowering his voice. “We should check out the old library.”

Finn was genuinely surprised, eyebrows furling into a look of confusion. How could there not possibly be a catch to this? Were they just supposed to stroll on into the old library and take whatever they wanted?

He chuckled a bit after really considering it. “So, I guess we really should have met at the old library instead” Finn joked. The old library building was basically abandoned, no one had any specific reason to go there. Finn had heard of kids daring each other to go in and poke around, as the students assumed the decrepit building was haunted. Some seniors would have lock-in challenges, at least according to campus rumor. No one ever bothered looking for any…information. Knowing that they keep old student records stored there, however, had Finn suspicious of who exactly was in charge of making sure they’re not stolen. 

It would be tough. Not because of ghosts or anything like that. Finn already had an affinity for the supernatural, for obvious reasons. No, it was because the doors were old and heavy, the electricity in the building was nonfunctioning, and the amount of dust and dirt would probably be so unbearable, they would have to wear masks. Tough and tedious, sure, but definitely not impossible. 

Something in the back of his mind was telling him to not risk it. Finn had never taken a risk in his whole life. He’s always stayed on the safe side, out of the limelight, in the shadows. But hey, maybe a fun little heist adventure could make Tucker forget about Finn’s social ineptitude. With the building being as far away and abandoned as it was, there wasn’t much of a concern about being caught, especially if they went after school hours. 

“Meet you there tonight, then!” Finn said confidently, having gathered the gumption to go through with the crazy ploy. 

Tucker could see the gears turning in the other boy’s head and he hid his smile, carefully schooling his expression into cool neutrality. Honestly, he didn’t care if they went or not, either way they’d get a grade that was just fine. Not like Mr. Nerd over here would allow anything less. He watched and waited as Finn stood at the very precipice of a risk, deciding whether or not, for once in his life, he wanted to do something that involved not being the perfect, model human being in every way possible. Really, from what Tucker understood, there was nothing blocking that library from clever people getting in. The doors were chained, and the windows were mostly boarded, but if you knew where to look there were loose boards, holed walls, etc. Any records the school had stored in there they either had forgotten about or didn’t care if they forgot about. No doubt, that student’s history was something they wanted to bury. No one really asked around about it anymore. If anything, they’d be doing the school a favor by dredging those things up. The administration wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore and no other students would ever find it and cause dozens of student trips there every year or every semester, just trying to find out more about the urban legend. 

As Finn’s lips twitched upward in the tiniest crooked smile, Tucker mirrored it, knowing the kid had made his decision.

Voicing his assent was just the icing on the cake – with the cherry that the blonde didn’t favor too much. “Oh, well uh, I’m actually a commuter. I was going to head home after this.” He raised an eyebrow. “…Want to go now?” Ironically, going in daylight would probably be safer. Fewer people gave a shit when people were in weird spots. They just assumed it was some weird project assigned from one of the professors. Especially the biology students. Those people got into some weird shit. No matter the decision, Tucker took the time to stand, slinging his bag back over his shoulder. He looked down at Finn for his answer, leaning on one leg.

Finn fidgeted with the pentacle around his neck as he pondered the idea. Now? In the middle of broad daylight? They didn’t have any precautionary equipment, no flashlights, no masks. Finn also wanted some time to mentally prepare for the endeavor. He tapped his foot, a nervous habit he had when something overwhelming was happening. His slick black boots made an annoying, repetitive sound on the tile floor of the library, something he didn’t notice was probably getting on his project partner’s last nerve. 

Fuck it. If he was going to take a risk, he was going to go all out. 

“You know what?” Finn started, nodding as if to reassure himself that everything would turn out okay. “Sure. Let’s go.”

The movement drew the jock’s eye, and he kept his face neutral. Hey, if Finn wanted to be in a satanic cult, that was his business. He sure as fuck wasn’t going to risk getting himself turned into a newt for saying anything. He snorted internally: as if. Amber eyes rose up to Finn’s blue as the other boy spoke and finally Tucker let that wolfish grin that he’d been holding back break across his face. He hefted his bag again, repositioning. “Hell yeah. Alright, this way.” Naturally, Tucker felt like he was guiding the smaller boy as they went about their mission of subtlety. Back down the steps he trotted, looking out of the corners of his eyes to be sure someone wasn’t heading out with them.


	8. Chapter 8

The older library was about halfway across campus, nestled in some trees and overgrown bushes. The campus didn’t bother trimming around it anymore and none of the students hardly ever bothered with it, especially not during the day. So now was the perfect time, and as Tucker hesitated beside the old building, he pulled out his phone pretending he’d just gotten a notification. He scrolled down his Facebook screen, all the meanwhile searching the sidewalk for any oncoming students. One passed by and he furrowed his eyebrows, selling the act that he’d been frustrated by incoming news. The moment the other student had passed, he looked up, locked his phone, and pocketed it again, heading for the brush. He gestured for Finn to follow, looking for the weak board Tucker and his friends had found last time they’d tried infiltrating this place. A little booze in a spooky place never hurt anybody. 

Tucker went by the windows, tugging lightly at each plank of wood as he passed.

A grin split his face as he felt one rattle and he turned his body to face it. One foot planted against the brick wall, he hooked his fingers around the board and tugged. One, two, three pulls and it came loose with hardly a sound. The blonde brushed his hands together and he turned to Finn, interlacing his fingers and lowering his hands to the other boy to be boosted. He jerked his head to the little opening. “Come on.”

Finn followed behind the taller boy all the way to the old library building into the thicket of the foliage that lay next to campus, all the while his heart beating out of his chest. His mind raced with a million thoughts, all incredibly loud and overbearing. What the hell do you think you’re doing?! We could get in big trouble! If we get caught, this will be the ugliest stain on your record!

He twitched, trying desperately to press forward, regardless of the voice of reason in his head. Maybe my record needs staining! He thought to himself. Part of him was so very exhausted of trying to keep a good appearance for his family’s sake. He wanted the thrill of doing one crazy thing. Just one. 

As Tucker pulled the boards off a specific window of the building, Finn turned around and took his zip-up hoodie off and tied it around his waist. Something about rebelling against all you’ve ever known sure induced a sweat. He was almost nervous to turn back around to face Tucker, he never went to school wearing anything less than a long sleeved shirt. Something about his exposed flesh made him extremely antsy, though he never knew how to put it into words. Perhaps it was the fact that his veins seemed an uncomfortably bright shade of blue in comparison to everyone else. Or that sometimes his pale skin looked almost holographic in the sunlight. 

Nevertheless, he moved quickly enough to where he hoped it wouldn’t be noticeable, only to find Tucker in a stance that suggested a boost for Finn to get through the window first. 

Sure. 

He stepped up onto the blond’s clasped hands and hoisted himself up onto the windowsill with ease. The agile boy swung his legs around to the inside of the building, grabbing the border of the windowpane with one hand and outstretching his other to help Tucker up the side of the wall in one fell swoop, hopping down to the hardwood floor beneath him once he was sure Tucker had his bearings. 

Movement in the corner of his eyes had Tucker looking over at a disrobing Finn. The shorter boy was awfully pale he thought, and as the last board came off it was completely dismissed from his mind. As the blonde waited for Finn to boost on up to the window, he found himself grinning. Doing bad shit was fun but doing bad shit with people that normally didn’t was so much better. He wondered how Finn would eventually get them caught and he rolled his eyes to himself, enjoying it all while he could. As Finn stepped into his interlaced fingers, Tucker bit his lip and “hup!”d the boy upward, watching Finn successfully grab a hold and hoist himself inside. Tucker himself squatted by the wall as Finn situated himself and took in his surroundings. It wouldn’t do to get caught while the taller, more flamboyant boy was just standing around a clearly open window into somewhere they shouldn’t be. 

A pale white hand reached down to him from the window and Tucker’s grin resumed.

Backing up a couple of steps, he got a small running head start and ran halfway up the wall before grasping that hand with his own, pulling himself the rest of the way inside. Amateur parkour helped a bit, make no mistake, and he brushed himself off. Look around revealed the same way the library had always been – at least he thought so. Something seemed a little off, but maybe it was because he ordinarily wouldn’t be spending the middle of the day here. He gave Finn a cursory glance just to make sure he hadn’t ripped anything and complain about it later, then maneuvered his phone out of his pocket for its flashlight. “Okay, so, fuck knows where those files probably are, but the place is only so big. I would say big old file cabinets would do it.” The hairs on Tucker’s arm stood up and he brushed the chill off. It felt weird in here, but he wasn’t about to share that with someone like Finn. On the one hand, he didn’t need to be freaking the guy out. On the other, he wasn’t some scaredy cat. Just a cool cat. And that’s all Finn needed to know. 

Tucker toed a few papers and dropped pens out of the way, stepping over the dust and dirty flooring.

Bookshelves, ones that were perfectly functional, had pretty much been scavenged from this place. Anything remaining was either less than perfect or outright sagging against a wall. Cracks lined the drywall and much of the wooden furniture and Tucker eyes, a dull amber now in the darkness, looked up at the ceiling. Yeah, it would hold. This place wasn’t that old, he didn’t think. None of the papers here were really important – other than their own goal, of course – and he disregarded them. A promising stack of file cabinets caught Tucker’s eye and he headed over, switching his phone to his left hand. He tugged lightly and he grunted. They’d have to find a key, he guessed. Just because they’d left them here didn’t mean they weren’t at least somewhat guarded. Okay, then, and he looked around the immediate area. Some of the desks had drawers, he’d start there.

As soon as Finn’s feet hit the floor beneath him, something felt undeniably wrong. Sure, this had already felt wrong before, in that he didn’t want to be caught and get in trouble. That was honestly the least of his worries now. Now, the entire aura that filled the inside of the abandoned library felt heavy, sickly, and dark. It felt like time itself was slowing down while thousands of actions were happening at once. He felt a dull pressure on his chest that threatened which each passing moment to suffocate him, the smell of dust and sulfur filling his lungs. Each step he took was as if he was walking in quicksand, the click of his boots on the hardwood sounding like a gunshot. While Tucker was easily able to start heading toward the file cabinets, looking as if he hadn’t been affected in the slightest, Finn felt like these feelings had something to do with…with his abilities. 

He heard a semblance of the phrase, “Hey wait a minute!” coming from his mouth, but Tucker didn’t respond. 

Finn’s eyes widened, the usual bright blue of his irises fading into a cloudy mist. The feeling of a slight shock from static electricity encased his lithe limbs. He wanted to scream for help when suddenly, everything felt normal again. Nearly no time had actually passed, maybe a few seconds. Tucker didn’t seem to notice a thing, really. Finn noticed him unsuccessfully trying to get into the first file cabinet. 

Finn was stupefied. What had just happened? 

“What the fu….” He said out loud to himself, trailing off while looking down at himself.


	9. Chapter 9

From within the shadows of the library, a predator stalked her prey. The sturdier one had taken her bait even more perfectly than she could have expected – she had planted her seed well, and the corners of her lips curled up in somewhere between a smile and a sneer Stiller than silence itself, she stood on the other side of cracked, dusty glass, watching with hunger in her stomach. From the instant she’d found the mage here, her hunt had been relentless. She’d clawed her way across worlds for this hunt, and it would go exactly how she’d dreamed.

So assured of victory was she that she didn’t even bother to conceal her malice, the sheer malevolence that seeped out of her like blood from a wound. She was certain that her prey could feel it – if he couldn’t, his curse wouldn’t have shone so brightly in her sight. And as he came into her sight, she couldn’t hold back an upwelling of vicious glee. She felt like an owl with talons wrapped around the throat of a rat, one final strike away from victory. But she would be patient. She would be calm. She would wait for them to do what she knew he would do. The mundane one tried a filing cabinet, found it locked. Meanwhile, the magic one was opening his mouth, saying something to warn his companion of what he felt. Oh, no, no, no. She couldn’t have that.

Her hand went to her belt, wasting no time at all coming to rest on the tool that hung there. It, like so many others, was powered by the very reward of her hunt today – pure magic, harvested from those it infected. It was a side prize to her main reward, of course, that being the knowledge that there was one less mage in the world. She flicked a switch, and in seconds it zeroed in on the only magic present besides her, read his aura, and disabled him with a quick opposing jolt. Only for a moment, but enough to glaze his eyes, kill his mind, drown the words in his throat. And crucially – it left a mark on him, on his aura. His essence. She would track him to the ends of the earth – any earth.

With that step complete, she left her post, making her way elsewhere in the library with silent steps. All her preparation was complete, of course, set up at least a day in advance. But she wanted to personally ensure every single thing went off without a hitch.

Tucker hopped up and slid over a paper-laden desk like he’d practiced it a thousand times – knowing him, he probably had. He’d checked the drawers already, looking for a key with no success, and he looked his project partner up and down. Finn looked pale, sweaty, and overall not so hot. If it weren’t the beginnings of winter outside the building, Tucker would swear Finn was sweating. For a moment, Tucker swore he saw something move at the window, but a quick double check rendered nothing. The taller boy jerked his chin at Finn, dragging the pad of his middle finger up the upper part of his chest and smoothly transitioning that to pointing at Finn, palm facing up. “What’s up with you?” He didn’t want Finn chickening out at the last moment. He shrugged, bending over and checking the next set of drawers. Papers ruffled and faint metal clinking could be heard as he rummaged and eventually straightened sighing and running a hand through his hair. 

“Look, if you can’t handle wandering an empty building, go home, man. I’ll find it on my own.”

He moved on, scouring the tops of the desks, too, and he chuckled to himself. “Just do the paper and the PowerPoint, yeah?” As if he would make Finn do all the rest of the project if he went home, but seriously the guy needed a little kick in the tush. Several more minutes of searching ended with empty hands and Tucker growled under his breath. “This is some bullshit. And we’re not just breaking through those cabinets, they’re insanely strong. Of course they’d have a key to them in the front office or something.” He put his hands on his hips and looked up at the ceiling, groaning. He let his shoulders relax, then rolled them this way and that as he brought his head back forward. “Ugh, okay.” He brought his messenger bag around to his front and started pawing through it. He fixed Finn with a scowl. “You know nothing of this.” He pulled out a small zipper’d pack and laid it on the desk he’d just vaulted over not long ago. Unzipped and spread open, the black case had a lockpicking set and he pulled out a couple of metal tools, squatting by the cabinet and getting started.


	10. Chapter 10

The words that came from the taller boy’s mouth hit Finn right in the chest as he watched the blond take out a lockpicking kit – all hush, hush, of course. Who was he even going to tell? Finn knew that he could easily break open every locked door in this building, without the lockpicking materials, but that would require revealing that he had magical abilities. To someone that already wasn’t that fond of him. Nope, not today, sorry.

It still took Finn a minute to completely come out of his faze, finding a way to form words once more. His mouth twitched, only being able to manage a few sounds here and there until his muscles remembered how to communicate. 

“Tucker, you don’t understand.” He paused, his body desperately trying to catch up with his brain. “Something feels wrong.” Finn didn’t know how to explain what had just happened without telling Tucker about his magic. And he really did not want to open that can of worms, not here, not now. He sighed. He felt helpless, and frankly, stupid. 

“I know it sounds completely insane, but I just had the weirdest experience. We need to hurry up and get out of here.” He felt so terrible. Tucker is obviously going to think he’s just making up excuses because he’s chickening out. He literally just said so. He tried to speak quickly, but Finn was completely out of breath. His body felt lethargic, not as bad as before, but something in this library was draining his energy. He was silently panicking, hoping that whatever was draining his energy didn’t also drain his magic. Tucker turning around to see an even shorter, far more feminine version of Finn was quite possibly the worst case scenario. Anything else that could’ve happened would be better than that.   
Finn expected Tucker to scoff and shoo him away. He took a few strides forward, honestly attempting to elaborate: “You have to believe me” He was cut off by a surge of bright, sickly yellow energy engulfed his feet, quickly snaking its way around his legs. 

“Tucker!” He screamed, instantly losing all visibility.

By the time Finn was recovered enough to speak, the hawk was already in her new perch. She could already tell that her mouse was inexperienced with his magic, at a minimum. She didn’t need to bother hiding her aura, just her visuals. Hide in the shadows, apply a swirl of magic, and she could take a spot right next to them to watch what came next. It almost made her laugh; the way Finn was pleading with his friend to leave. “Oh, honey…” She purred to herself, voice dripping with all the sweetness of arsenic sugar. “…It’s much too late for that.” She tapped her fingers against her thigh, counting silently. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

Finn stepped forward at Exactly the point in his pleas that she expected. One step, two, and then… bingo. The trap snapped shut. Runes flared to life with a sickly jaundice, snapping open a gate that Finn didn’t know the first thing about evading, dispelling, or controlling. The only person that knew where it might go was her – and it went straight to her favorite hunting grounds.

In an instant, Finn was gone, Tucker with him, and the Huntress let the last pretense of stealth drop. If she had one flaw, it was gloating over success, and she couldn’t hold back a rich cackle, echoing throughout the library as she took the slow steps over to her portal. She was already gesturing and fiddling with a few gizmos on her belt, and that hateful yellow was already flowing back into the pouch it had come from, the last wisps of it being sucked in just as the huntress stepped into the portal herself. Only minimal magic lost, and she was easily able to catch the last echo of resonance to push her right where she wanted. She was still laughing, and she would only settle herself when she felt the cool grey glow of a Hunter’s sun.

The darkness of the library erupted into a blinding, garish yellow light. Before even realizing the luminosity was overtaking his body, Finn felt like he was falling. Falling through the floor? No. Falling through some sort of portal. Who else at this school possessed magic? Finn assumed he would have been able to pick up on that easily. But no, this magic felt warped, controlled. There was a malevolence behind it. It wasn’t the sharp, clean magic Finn was able to conjure. It was destructive, messy, and jagged. As if it knew if was being corrupted. Something that he can feel but can’t trace the source of. 

Finn didn’t know anyone else besides his own family that knew about his powers, let alone anyone who would actively hunt him down because of the fact. Had someone seen him slip up during class? Or worse, were there any professors planted here to track down this type of shit? Every wild idea, every wackjob conspiracy crossed his mind, despite the falling through the gleam. 

It wasn’t long before he spotted the mossy, dark ground beneath him and in a flash he stopped himself from faceplanting onto the earth. A simple levitation trick, no sweat. 

Tucker wasn’t so lucky. 

Stepping up onto the soft land beneath him, Finn tried to get a bearing on his surroundings. 

These were not familiar surroundings. 

They had landed on a mossy hillside, but beyond that lay a great expanse of earth covered in foreign wildlife and plant life. Unimaginable colors decorated the bleak and muted tones of the land. There was a raging ocean to the right of where they stood, waves taller than redwood trees threatening to flood the land before disappearing into mist. The sky looked menacing, black clouds swirling to and fro, occasional glittering dancing through the cumulonimbus monstrosities. In the distance, old, decrepit buildings were visible, but look uninhabitable as they were covered with vines and moss. 

Finn observed a peculiarly increased sense of awareness. He could feel his energy that fueled his magic flowing more prominently through his being, his skin attained an otherworldly sheen on top of his other slight oddities. Looking at his arms, he scrambled to put his hoodie back on (thank god it had stayed secured around his waist). The last thing he needed was Tucker questioning his appearance on top of his attitude. 

He took a deep breath as Tucker situated himself into this strange new world.


End file.
